Pink — Marilynn Griffith

Griffith's latest African-American Christian women's fiction novel is crippled by a confusing structure and a reliance on too many miraculous coincidences.. At the center is Raya Joseph, a talented young fashion designer who has been jilted by her fiancé and whose parents are ensnared in marital troubles. Her boss and friend Chenille introduces her to Flex, a hot, eligible guy from church. As Flex and Raya's romance blooms, Chenille is thrown into her own turmoil, first losing a baby and then learning that her husband has cancer. To make matters even more complicated, Raya has just been hired to design a wedding gown for an ex-friend whom she can't stand. And over everything hangs the shadow of HIV: a minor character is orphaned by AIDS, and Raya's unfaithful parents turn out to be at risk for the disease too. (An author's note at the end of the book urges readers to pray for people with AIDS and points out that the disease disproportionately strikes black women.) Predictably, by the novel's end, Raya has learned about reconciliation and forgiveness, and her faith has deepened. Snappy dialogue partially redeems this generally disappointing story.

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